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| EU’s Eastern Partnership must stay on the agenda of the day |
| Alpbach, 29.08.2016 |
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| The European Union should develop a new vision for its Eastern Partnership policy. This was noted by Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Miroslav Lajčák, at the Alpbach Forum. Together with the Austrian Foreign Minister, Sebastian Kurz, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Pavlo Klimkin, and the Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus, Elena Kupchyna, they discussed the relations between the East European States with the EU and Russia at the prestigious annual forum in the Austrian Alps.
“The European Union’s Eastern Partnership policy focuses on spreading stability, foreseeability and prosperity in our neighborhood and is not aimed against anyone,” emphasized Minister Lajčák while underscoring that it is a voluntary partnership based on the decisions and ambitions of the six partnership countries.
Minister Lajčák pointed out in his panel discussion statement in Alpbach that the political offer to three partners in the Eastern Partnership has been completed for now, since Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine already have their EU association agreements on political approximation and on economic integration; Moldova has also achieved lifting of the EU visa requirement and Ukraine and Georgia have it within reach. The other three Eastern Partnership members, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus, in turn, have different ambitions with regard to the intensity of cooperation with the Union.
“The major task for the EU in this respect is defining where we want to direct the Eastern Partnership now and what we want its content to be,” stated Minister Lajčák. He also underscored that the EU’s strategic interest still includes having a stabilized and prosperous eastern neighborhood, and for that reason the EU’s eastern policy must remain on the agenda of the day. “Simultaneously it also is an issue of credibility of the Union,” added Minister Lajčák.
Slovakia’s input, as the country holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU, in this process is to have included the Eastern Partnership in the Presidency priorities. “The Eastern Partnership is important to us. For that reason we have invited its members to the Presidency’s informal events in Bratislava and have sent out a signal in that way that we do care about them,” said Minister Lajčák. The foreign ministers of the six partnership countries will next attend the luncheon that follows an informal meeting of the EU’s foreign ministers in Bratislava on Saturday.odkaz na stránku |
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Address : Euro-Brew Ltd., Hlboká 22, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia
Tel. : +421 33 53 418 53, Fax : +421 33 53 418 52, E-mail : info@eurobrew.sk |
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